Alex Wersted, from Hopedale, Mass., is the valedictorian of the class. Wersted is a theater major and secondary education minor.

Wersted was the president of Breakaway Student Productions, a student theater company that put on a 10-minute play festival, a main stage show and a one act play festival. He was also the vice president of the UC Bearitones, Ursinus’ male a capella group.

Over the past eight semesters, Wersted has also been cast in eight shows, his favorites of those being “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Noises Off.” Wersted said he has enjoyed being part of these plays and getting to know the casts, and he is especially grateful for his mentors and theater professors, Dr. Beverly Redman and Domenick Scudera, who have helped get him to where he is today.

“I think Ursinus has given me the opportunity to gain the skills I need to form my own opinions and stand by those,” Wersted said.

Wersted was accepted to Teach for America in Eastern Kentucky, but declined the offer. He instead plans to move back to Massachusetts to work at a community theater. He will be teaching classes, running a one act play festival, directing “Guys and Dolls Junior” and auditioning for “Twelfth Night.” Wersted also plans to continue teaching tennis lessons.

Rosie Clark, from Secane, Pa., is one of two salutatorians. She will be graduating with a double major in English and media and communication studies, and with a minor in gender and women’s studies.

On campus, Clark spent much of her time serving as the news editor for The Grizzly. She was also a member of the Gender and Sexuality Alliance, a student consultant for the Teaching and Learning Initiative and she started the Peer Advocates program, in which students work to educate the campus on sexual misconduct.

In the coming fall, Clark will be attending the doctoral program at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania to receive her Ph.D. Clark said that ideally, she would like a become a professor of communication, but would also like to work in journalism or with non-profit organizations focused on media policy.

Academically, Clark said she most values her experiences working for The Grizzly. Socially, her best memories involve the strong community that has formed at Hillel, where she has cooked Shabbat dinners and spent time with those who attend.

“What I will miss most are the two major benefits of going to such a small school: your close community of friends, who you see every day, you eat every meal with, you do everything with, and also your close relationships with faculty,” Clark said. “I have been really lucky to have professors that care about what I’m doing, where I’m going, and that has meant a lot to me.”

Liora Mor is the second salutatorian. She is a biology major and Africana studies minor from Chesire, Conn. Mor has been a member of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Wismer on Wheels and volunteered as an ESL tutor. She is also the vice president of the Brownback-Anders Pre-Medical Society, and an athlete for the cross-country and track team during her sophomore year.

Mor said her experience at Ursinus has been meaningful in many ways. She loves the people, the strong community and the beautiful campus. She said she has learned so much in her classes, having had incredible professors in both her major and minor.

“The professors here have taught me so much,” Mor said, adding that she has also learned a great deal outside of the classroom at Ursinus.

Mor will take a gap year before applying to medical school. During this time, Mor, who previously travelled to South Africa to work at a hospital there for a month, will be working at an orphanage in Cameroon. Mor said she would love to work in hospital in a rural place again, be it in the United States or abroad.

The three students will be graduating this Friday at 10 a.m. with the rest of their class on the front lawn. Kristin Cichowski, a theater major from Sellersville, Pa., will join them as this year’s student commencement speaker.

Melissa Kopel
mekopel@ursinus.edu

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“I was really disappointed when Ursinus didn’t have a television station, but we have a TV studio that’s fully functioning,” Rotman said. “I feel like most liberal arts schools have a television station, so why not us?” Rotman said she could not bring back UCTV on her own, and is thankful to the Ursinus staff, faculty and students who assisted her.

A Grizzly article published on October 11, 2012 said Rotman hoped for UCTV’s first broadcast to happen in October. The club did not reach this goal, citing many of the officers’ and members’ involvement in Greek life as a main cause. “[Rushing] made it really hard to do our first broadcast, so it took until second semester for us to really get the ball rolling. However it never really went away. The officers were always talking. We set dates, we held auditions, we had meetings and we got the ball rolling,” Rotman said.

UCTV’s executive board is made up of about 6 members who Rotman considers very helpful. “We all come to the table with different skills and at the end of the day we work really well together and we end up producing something that’s honestly amazing. We’ve created a successful club. People want to join. I get asked every week by someone wanting to be a part of it.”

Though Rotman was hoping to broadcast the weekly campus news to Ursinus’s TV station, the club has yet to reach this goal. In the meantime, their recordings are uploaded to YouTube where they can be accessed and shared.

“The problem with broadcasting live is that only people here on campus can watch our broadcast,” said Rotman. “[YouTube] is a good way to make it more accessible to parents and friends from home, and also as an example to add to our résumés.”

As UCTV’s anchors, or “talent,” and technicians become more experienced and comfortable, they near their goal of broadcasting live to campus. Rotman said, “You can see it in the talent getting more comfortable, the people in the control room getting more comfortable, and it’s going to be a challenge but we’re getting there. I think we’re going to get a great response from that. People are going to want to see us in their room when they turn on the television.”

Rotman primarily advertises the club’s recordings using her Facebook profile. UCTV’s eight recordings from this semester average over 100 views. The first two recordings each have over 200 views.

One of Rotman’s goals is to continually introduce new segments to UCTV, such as “Appealing and Appalling,” which she believes will maintain a high level of interest for the show. She also wants viewers to know UCTV can be as much about entertainment as news. “We almost portray lightheartedness to our broadcast. It’s not as serious as it comes off because we’re young, we’re students, and we’re trying to do something that most college students haven’t done. Starting a TV station, that’s pretty new.”

Rotman is pleased with the progress UCTV has made this semester, despite encountering various technical difficulties throughout. One of the biggest hindrances was the surprise UCTV members and officers received when reviewing footage of their first complete broadcast.

Rotman said, “Everything was fine. We had really good stories. Everyone was really high on energy. However, when we went to play [the footage] back at the end we got the entire picture, all the video, but we didn’t get any audio. This was so shocking to me because it was a really nice broadcast but we couldn’t air it.”

To get to the root of the problem, Rotman contacted Neal Dhand who teaches Television Studio Production. Dhand also taught Rotman how to digitize UCTV’s broadcasts so that they may be uploaded to YouTube. Rotman said, “Neal has been really helpful and very personable and I thank our advisor, Dean Miller, for introducing him to me as a resource for whenever I need help.”

TV Studio Production is not a pre-requisite for UCTV, but Rotman recommends the course because it provides useful knowledge and background of the skills used in the club. “It certainly does help because there’s certain language or lingo for cameras that I use when I’m giving direction,” she said. However, UCTV does not turn anyone away, and members can learn from other members and by experience.

“I’m very thrilled to see UCTV becoming so successful and creating a name for itself on campus,” Rotman said. “I know the potential that UCTV has and I know where it can go and I really see it reaching new heights.” UCTV is hopeful for another successful season next semester, though the title of general manager will change hands as Rotman is expected to study abroad.

Matt Johnston
majohnston@ursinus.edu

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“Rain gardens are areas of native plants that collect and absorb storm water,” Rich Wallace, chair of the environmental studies department, said in an email. “This garden will help to restore and protect the streams located in the Hunsberger Woods natural area.”

On April 16, students, staff, and representatives from the Horticultural Society collaborated to install four rain gardens in the woods. With the help of a few tractors, the team worked through the afternoon to dig out spaces for the garden and to plant trees and other shrubbery.

Emma Melvin, a member of the Horticultural Society and coordinator of the Hunsberger Woods project, said that the gardens are restorative for the woods because storm water carries pollutants that degrade the habitat and erode the water beds around the creek. “It’s an environmental stewardship project,” Melvin said. “We’re protecting the stream from nutrient overload, as well as the ecology of the stream.”

When walking along the bank of the creek that runs through Hunsberger Woods, the damage from the erosion is evident in the high creek banks. Melvin said that the steep drop-off from the creek bank to the water indicates that erosion is causing the soil around the bank to disintegrate and fall into the water. The tributary that this creek flows to is the Perkiomen Creek, a much larger water source.

In addition to the rain gardens, the group is planting trees in the meadows along the creek bank. “The trees that are planted along the bank are helpful because their leaves will capture storm water,” Melvin said. “The tree roots in the creek bank will help to hold it together.”

Ursinus students had an integral role in the development of this project. Many of the students participating in the rain garden event were upperclassmen from the Capstone course entitled “The Land Ethic.” “We helped to design the garden and pick that plants that best suited the soil, water runoff, and climate,” Molly Serfass, a junior environmental studies major, said.

The Hunsberger Woods is used by the community for its walking trail. The Ursinus cross-country teams also use the trails in the woods as their home course.

According to the Collegeville website, the Hunsberger family donated the open land to the Collegeville Borough in 1996. Collegeville has worked to improve the land for community use by installing benches, clearing trails, paving a parking lot outside of the East Ninth Avenue and Route 29 entrances to the woods, and planting trees.

Ecological efforts to sustain the Hunsberger Woods will continue through further tree planting and rain garden installation. Melvin said that the success of the collaboration between the Horticultural Society, the Collegeville Borough, and Ursinus has encouraged them to work on further conservations efforts together.

Rachel Brown
rabrown@ursinus.edu

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This year’s student Farm Director, Junior Dean Scott, has organized a farm cookout and a few volunteer days that have helped prepare the garden for planting. The compost is already spread, and the farm has “some radishes we just put in the ground,” Scott said.

Scott lists a number of vegetables growing in two greenhouses on campus, which include tomatoes, lettuce, red-headed lettuce, chard, kale, beats, cabbage, and spring salad mix, which Scott said “has sprouted and is really tasty, I’ve tried some.” The farm also includes a 26-tree orchard, with apples, apricots, nectarines, pears and plums.

In addition to fruits and vegetables, the UC Organic Farm is home to chickens and bees that are producing eggs and honey.

Scott said, “The chickens are great. They’re producing eggs, they’re healthy, and they’re going to have two more chickens this summer if all goes according to plan to have a total of six.”

The bees have also been hard at work, with one highly populated colony that is already harvesting pollen.

As the UC Farm Director, Scott’s plan for the semester was to engage student volunteers, which he has found pretty easy so far.

Scott said, “As far as student involvement, people can’t get enough and are super interested. People I don’t even know are asking, ‘Dean, when are we going to be out at the farm?’”And these farm volunteers are really enjoying their time as well. Freshman Axel Gonzales said, “The organic farm is great. Perhaps the best part about it is the community that’s involved. Every time we go work on the farm we bring food or a Frisbee and just hang out after working.”

Now that Scott has accomplished his semester goal, he looks forward to the summer, when he hopes to set up a planting, weeding, and harvesting schedule, producing eggs and vegetables throughout the summer, which he will then be able to bring to the Collegeville Farmer’s Market every Saturday.

Scott said, “The relationship between the community and the college is really important,” so another summer goal is to invite local faculty, staff, and fellow students to claim and garden their own 4 ft. by 8 ft. raised bed boxes as a Community Garden Program.

In addition to the core theme of community, students engaged in the farm develop a greater appreciation for their food. Gonzales said, “As for actually working on the farm, it’s great to see and learn how food is grown. We’re so used to buying our food in the grocery store that we never actually see how dependent we are on the land for our food. Working on the farm, working on any farm, really allows you to see how dependent you are on nature and other people for your existence. And recognizing those dependencies really drives you to fight for justice, both for the environment and for people.”

And as Scott said, “the prospect of being able to grow food is just really phenomenal.” Students who are interested in taking part in upcoming work days or having their own garden bed this summer can contact Dean Scott.

Megan Maccaroni
memaccaroni@ursinus.edu

Before I dive in: I shop at thrift stores. I’ve bought everyday clothing there as well as an ugly sweater for a Christmas party. I’m not proud of myself for that. I’ve tried to stay in touch with my working class roots but I’ve drifted far from the sensitivities of my childhood.

It’s too easy to forget that every time we run through the aisles of Liberty or Goodwill, looking for a goofy shirt or some bizarre pants that we brush past the lady trying to find a blouse for her job interview or an 8th grader frowningly scrutinizing a pair of jeans for any sign or mark that says “thrift shop.”

And let’s put ourselves in her shoes: how do we look, shopping around, cracking jokes about how ugly the clothing is or how well an article will suit a party’s theme?

I think we look like out-of-touch, entitled asses.

Macklemore’s recent hit single “Thrift Shop” exemplifies the sort of disrespectful consumption that has me on my soapbox. The song seemingly extols the virtues of thrift shopping but listen closely and Macklemore purchases a shirt of which he says “probably should’ve washed this, smells like R. Kelly’s sheets; piss.”

That’s definitely a respectful treatment of where people shop, right?

The video for the song offers an even clearer representation of the attitude that dismays me: Macklemore can apparently only conceive of purchasing ostentatious or outlandish clothing from the thrift store. Spin blogger Brandon Soderberg notes that Macklemore’s “embrace of the thrift shop is exclusively for wacky outfits to get him attention at parties.”

My roommate and I were recently discussing Macklemore’s song in the company of one of my friends. Initially she didn’t see why my roommate and I were so turned off by the song. I attempted to persuade her by pointing out that our school flocks to the thrift store to buy ugly sweaters for Christmas parties.

She responded that stores like Macy’s don’t have an ugly sweater section. She’s a smart young woman and quick on the draw so once the words left her mouth she understood the point my roommate and I were fumblingly making.

According to the American Psychological Association “socioeconomic status is commonly conceptualized as the social standing or class of an individual or group. It is often measured as a combination of education, income and occupation.” The higher an individual’s socioeconomic status is, the higher their level of socioeconomic privilege is.

Privilege, in an economic sense, is the fact that opportunity is not offered to every citizen equally. It’s an ugly form of inequality embedded in capitalism but money purchases more than just the material trappings of status, it also purchases the corresponding options and benefits. Few doors shut because a student has too much money but opportunity evaporates as bank account balances dwindle.

By and large, we Ursinus students are a privileged bunch. We may not be the wealthiest student body in the country but according to CollegeInsight, an organization devoted to promoting collegiate access across the economic spectrum, 67 percent of Ursinus students who applied for financial aid in the 2010-2011 school year came from families with incomes of $60,000 a year or greater. This doesn’t include the 11 percent of the study body who didn’t even apply for aid. In short, the typical Ursinus student’s life probably doesn’t include shopping at a thrift store out of necessity.

Are we entitled to shop in thrift stores however we want? Yes, of course; they’re businesses like any other (except that they’re generally non-profits). And is it better to support a thrift shop than to avoid it? Also, yes.

Our ability to shop where we please and spend freely is a luxury we can’t overlook. We should have more respect for those around us who are less fortunate. Because you know what? Anyone reading who has never gone to bed hungry or had to shop a thrift store should consider themselves damn lucky.

I want everyone to shop at a thrift store. It’s fun and you can find some amazing deals. But we should shop at Liberty or Goodwill the same way we’d shop at Macy’s or Sears or Bloomingdales.

Shane English
shmcgowanenglish@ursinus.edu

Sophomore Jake Weber tallied two goals and two assists apiece in the Bears’ 11-5 victory over McDaniel. Photo courtesy of Athletic Communications.

After allowing two goals within the final six minutes, the Ursinus women’s lacrosse team (4-10, 1-6 Centennial) was unable to rally and dropped their Senior Day match to McDaniel, 11-10.

The Bears tallied four unanswered second-half goals, which were capped off by freshman Devin Brakel’s score at 16:54, to tie the game at nine.  However, goals from McDaniel’s Paige Messersmith and Anna Beaudry within the final six minutes put the game away for good for the Green Terror.

Ursinus received two goals apiece from Nicole Kovacs, Devin Brakel and Lauren Garganio. Also appearing on the score sheet for the Bears were Kitty Dawson, Mary Delberti, Caroline Cannon, and Kathleen McElroy.

Senior Liz Chatburn picked up three ground balls, while Brakel had a game-high six draw controls for the Bears.

Goalkeeper Riley Pembroke made seven saves in the losing effort.

The Bears finish out their season on Saturday afternoon against Muhlenberg in Allentown. Faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Men’s Lacrosse

Following three unanswered goals to start the game, the Ursinus men’s lacrosse team defeated McDaniel, 11-5, and racked up their first conference victory of the season.

Along with the hot start, the Bears went on two second-half three-goal runs to distance themselves on the score line from the Green Terror.

Freshman Logan Panaccione posted four goals in the win, including three in the second half. Freshman Steve Mussoline and Jake Weber both netted two goals, with Weber also contributing two assists.

Sophomore Mark Stratton assisted on three goals, while freshman Brian Neff stopped 16 shots in the road win.

The Bears close out their season on Saturday vs. Muhlenberg for Senior Day. Scheduled start at Patterson Field is slated for 1 p.m.

Baseball

With rain forcing them into a stretch that has called for seven games in seven days, the Ursinus baseball team dropped a pair to conference foe Johns Hopkins, 4-2 and 8-2, on Sunday afternoon to start the arduous run of games.

In Game 1, the No. 2-ranked Blue Jays got on the scoreboard early, scoring three runs in the first inning on RBI hits from seniors Jeff Lynch and Ryan Zakszeski.

However, Bears’ starting pitcher Steve Berardi shut down the Blue Jays over his final six innings of work, allowing only one run after the first inning. In total, the junior righthander allowed four runs on six hits while striking out six and walking six.

Sophomore Alex Manacher went 4-4 with an RBI in the front end of the doubleheader.

In the second game, the league leading Blue Jays scored six unanswered runs to break a 2-2 deadlock, headlined by 6th inning home runs from senior Kyle Neverman and Lynch.

Carter Burns led the way for the Blue Jays on the mound, tossing a complete game while allowing two runs on six hits. The freshman racked up nine strikeouts and walked only two, improving his record to 5-0.

Sophomore outfielder James Hoff went 2-4 in the nightcap for Ursinus.

Ursinus falls to 6-23 overall and 2-11 in conference play.

The Bears take to the field one last time on Saturday afternoon vs. McDaniel at The T. First Pitch on Senior Day is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.

Men’s Tennis

The Ursinus men’s tennis team recorded their 13th victory of the season, defeating McDaniel, 8-1.

The 13th match victory sets a new school record for most wins in a single season. The previous record of 12 was set by the 1985 and 2012 teams.

The Bears swept in doubles and won five of six singles matches en route to a resounding conference win.

Setting the pace in doubles were the pairings of Evan Stutchin/Logan Metcalf-Kelly and Evan Lord/Alex Elbogen. The Stutchin/Metcalf-Kelly duo posted an 8-1 win, while the team of Lord and Elbogen won 8-3.

Headlining the singles victories were Stutchin and Tyler Arsenault. Stutchin won in straight sets 6-1, 6-1 in first singles, while Arsenault, last week’s Centennial Conference Player of the Week, won 6-1, 6-4 in third singles.

The Bears complete their regular season schedule when they take on Muhlenberg. Scheduled start for the match at the Ace Bailey Courts is 1 p.m.

Al Weaver
alweaver@ursinus.edu

Ambulances line up to transport runners, spectators and first responders injured after two bombs exploded near the Boston Marathon’s finish line. According to CNN, the blasts killed three and injured 141 people. Photo courtesy of Sam Brenner

On Monday, April 15, two bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston marathon. According to CNN, the two explosions occurred about 12 seconds apart, around 2:50 p.m.

Ursinus senior Sam Brenner was running in the race for his second year in a row. Senior Olivia Hovick and Dean of Students Deborah Nolan were also at the marathon, both cheering on their respective family remembers. Hovick’s father was running in the race for his eleventh year. Nolan’s husband James was running in the race for his twenty-fifth year, and Alison Nolan, her daughter and a 2011 Ursinus alumna, was running in the marathon for her first time after qualifying at the Lehigh Valley Marathon last fall.

Brenner had finished the race by the time the bombs went off.

“I was turning toward the finish line to walk toward my dad because he was a block away when I saw the first blast go up,” Brenner said. “No one really knew what was going on.”

“My mother and I had been cheering runners on at Heartbreak Hill around mile 20 in Newton,” Nolan said. “We took the [subway] back to the finish line and received a call from Alison that she had finished and would meet us at the Marriott Hotel, where we were staying. We were about 50 yards from the eventual site of the second explosion when her call summoned us back to the hotel.”

Boston Marathon medical volunteers load the first bombing victims onto ambulances at an aid station. Photo Courtesy of Sam Brenner

“It was really scary,” Hovick said. “I have never felt so sick to my stomach. … So many people stand right there. It’s almost immediately after the finish line, so a lot of families wait there to see their loved ones finish.”

“About 15 seconds after I saw the second bomb go off, a stampede of people came running down the street away from the blast,” Brenner said.

The bombs claimed the lives of three. Restaurant manager Krystle Campbell and Chinese Boston University graduate student Lingzi Lu died in the first blast, according to CNN. Eight-year-old Martin Richards lost his life in the second blast, according to CNN, and his mother and sister were seriously hurt.

“When we got to the street, there were bewildered people everywhere, and sirens and emergency vehicles screaming to the scene,” Nolan said. “Marathoners, like my daughter, were lost.  They had finished the race, were exhausted, dehydrated and cold, and most had no ID, phone, keys or personal items because they had either just finished the race or were diverted before getting to the finish with no way to find their families.  Many of us shared our cell phones and cash with them.”

CNN reported that more than 170 people were hurt by “flying glass, shrapnel, ball bearings and nails, some of them grievously.”

“The whole thing was so horrible. There were literally puddles of blood on the sidewalk,” Hovick said. “I didn’t feel like I was in Boston, or even in America. I felt like I was in some war-torn nation, or a post-apocalyptic novel.”

Because the bombing was suspected terrorism, the FBI took the investigative lead, according to CNN.

“I’ve directed the full resources of the federal government to help state and local authorities protect our people, increase security around the United States as necessary and investigate what happened,” President Barack Obama said in a statement on Monday, April 15, according to CNN.

CNN reported that, by Wednesday night, investigators had identified and released photos of suspects and brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

Around 11 p.m. on Thursday evening, Sean Collier, a police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was ambushed and shot to death in his patrol car on the campus by the two suspects, CNN reported.

Just before 1 a.m. on Friday, a lone Watertown cop came upon the Tsarnaev brothers and called for help. Other officers arrived to the scene, and the suspects opened fire on the police. According to CNN, more than 200 shots were fired in five to 10 minutes. CNN also reported that, when Tamerlan was handcuffed, Dzhokhar drove a hijacked Mercedes at the police, who dove out of the way. Dzhokhar ran over Tamerlan, who was pronounced dead at a hospital, according to CNN.

The police of Boston asked everyone in the city to remain indoors on Friday while a manhunt for Dzhokhar ensued, according to CNN.

“Even if it seemed unnecessary to lock down an entire city to find a 19-year-old, to cancel work for everyone and get everyone off the streets, the gesture seemed like a long moment of silence for the victims of the attacks,” Katie Holmes, a resident of Boston and a 2012 Ursinus alumna, said.

CNN reported that Dzhokhar was found and apprehended Friday evening in a boat in the backyard of a Watertown home.

“When the lockdown was lifted and the bomber was caught, more than 2,000 city dwellers rushed the park in celebration, drawn to the heart of the city to sing the national anthem followed by Red Sox songs, decked in Celtics gear and American flags to shake the hands of the Boston Police Department,” Holmes said.

“We grieve for the sorrow and agony and suffering so many experienced on Monday and for what they will continue to endure.  We feel very lucky to have been spared, but are surprised at the intensity of the effect this experience has had on all of us,” Nolan said.

“After this year, I am determined to run in the marathon in the next four years,” Hovick said. “There is nothing like the Boston Marathon. It’s a place where the bravest and most talented can compete against each other and get cheered on for 26.2 miles by the best, most enthusiastic, loudest supporters in the world. I know that the athletes who compete in this are going to show up next year. And they might be scared, but they’re going to do it just to prove that people with awful vendettas aren’t going to win.”

Sara Sherr
sasherr@ursinus.edu

Career Services is a benefit that not all other universities’ alumni enjoy. If at any point after graduation alumni feels they need help finding a job or seeking career advice, Ursinus encourages them to set up a meeting with a career advisor in the Career Service’s Office.

Amy Brink, a career advisor, said, “We have alumni come in to meet with us all the time. They come in for anything from advice to mock interviews. I 100 percent encourage alumni to stop in or give us a call if they have anything they need to discuss.”

Alyssa Daloisio, alumna of class 2010 and a current Ursinus Admission Councilor, said, “I took a year off after graduation but kept in touch with career services. When I found out that this position opened up, I jumped on the opportunity. Career services were really helpful.”

Another benefit for alum is the Ursinus LinkedIn alumni group. LinkedIn is the number one online professional networking tool in the world, and Ursinus has a group within LinkedIn. This gives students and alumni the capability to contact alumni from any graduating year in the field of their choice.

Brink said, “So if you are interested in going into a certain field and you see that someone who graduated in 2007 is working in the industry that you want to go into. You have a great foot in the door to send them a message and say, ‘Hey I’m alum too. We are in the same Ursinus network. Do you have 20 minutes to chat a little bit about how you got into what you’re doing?’”

Career Services advisors are always open to speak with Ursinus alumni.  Not only are alumni welcome back to campus to meet with a Career Services adviser, but there are also special events held specifically for Ursinus alumni throughout the year.

One of the biggest days for Ursinus alumni is Homecoming. This past year, homecoming featured a whole bunch of new activities. One of the new events was the Grizzly Gala. The Gala was inspired by the successful inaugural ball for Bobby Fong and was a celebration of the college’s alumni and even current students.

The most anticipated event for alumni and students on Homecoming is the Bears’ Brews & Bites sponsored by the Bruins Club. Alumni, students and faculty are always welcomed to reunite with friends while enjoying Bears’ Brews and Bites.

Alumni weekend is another way Ursinus gives back to alumni. The weekend is dedicated to reuniting the classes of the past. This year it is the weekend of May 31- June 2. The days are filled with celebration, lots of food, cocktails, awards and laughter.

If those two events don’t get the alumni back on campus, maybe a wedding will. Ursinus College alumni, children of current faculty and staff, and children of Board of Trustees are eligible to be married in Bomberger Chapel.

It appears that Ursinus Seniors are not saying farewell to Ursinus when they graduate, but rather see you soon.

Rayleen Rivera-Harbach
rariveraharbach@ursinus.edu

Dzohkhar Tsarnaev, the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing, was charged on Monday with, according to federal court documents, “using a weapon of mass destruction” that killed three people and injured 141 others on April 15, The New York Times reported. Federal prosecutors charged Tsarnaev, who has been hospitalized since his April 19 arrest with a possibly self-inflicted gunshot wound, as he lay in his hospital bed, according to The Times.

As of Monday, The Times reported that investigators have found no evidence linking Tsarnaev and his brother and accomplice to a larger terror group.  White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, according to The Times, that Tsarnaev will be prosecuted through the civilian court system, not as an enemy combatant as some Republican lawmakers had suggested.

Gun control amendment fails

According to the Huffington Post, the U.S. Senate failed to pass a bill that would require background checks for gun-buyers on Wednesday, April 17.  Nearly 90 percent of Americans, according to the Post, support the bill, a bipartisan measure written by Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

Failure to pass the background check amendment led to failures to pass other stronger measures, including a ban of assault weapons, according to the Post.

Earthquake strikes China

According to the BBC, a magnitude-6.6 earthquake struck the Sichuan province of China. There were more than 1,300 aftershocks in the area, and there are fears of possible landslides, BBC reported.

Chinese rescue teams have travelled on foot to the most affected areas, due to damaged roads, according to BBC, and some villages close to the epicenter in Lushan and Baoxing counties were left in ruins. Meanwhile, China has received help from other countries, even Japan, with which it is embroiled in a territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands, BBC reported.

Texas plant failed to report substance

A fertilizer plant in West, Texas exploded on Wednesday, April 17, killing at least 14 people and destroying buildings in the surrounding community, according to Reuters.  While the cause of the explosion is still unknown, Reuters reported the plant failed to disclose that it had been storing more than one thousand times the legal amount of ammonium nitrate, an explosive substance, to the Department of Homeland Security.

According to Reuters, fertilizer plants must report to the DHS if they possess more than 400 pounds of ammonium nitrate. The West plant’s filings with the Texas Department of State Health Services, which were not shared with the DHS, show that the plant had 270 tons of the substance last year, Reuters reported.

Flooding in Midwest

Floods in several communities along the Mississippi River have led to the deaths of three people in Indiana and Missouri and the destruction of farmlands and major highways in the Midwest, according to the Huffington Post.  Forecasts call for more rain and snow in the upper Midwest area and, as a result, increased flooding, the Post reported.

States of emergency have been declared in Michigan, Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin and Illinois, where several rivers were reaching record levels and thousands of people have been evacuated, according to the Post.

Rosemary Clark
roclark@ursinus.edu

Vivek Reddy
vireddy@ursinus.edu